Knife handle with adjustable blade



July 6, 1965 D. GRINGER 3,192,624

KNIFE HANDLE WITH ADJUSTABLE BLADE Filed 0012. 30, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 I IN VEN TOR. 50 00/1 1422 201 55? 27B 47B flrraanz'mJ y 6, 1965 D. GRINGER 3,192,624

KNIFE HANDLE WITH ADJUSTABLE BLADE Filed Oct. 30, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n t D i qfl INVENTOR 290M420 GEM 4Z5 5M, (A Y United States Patent This application is a continuation-in-part of my on plication entitled Knife Handle with Adjustable Blade, Serial No. 261,716, filed February 28, 1963, now abandoned.

This invention relates to pocket type knives and paricularly to a safety knife in which the blade is retracted axially into the handle.

A knife made in accordance with the present invention exhibits a number of desirable characteristics. Thus, means are provided to facilitate positioning the blade. Posi ve lock means are provided to hold the blade when positioned. The blade is positionable between its full extended and retracted positions, so that depth regulation of the blade cut is available. Adequate grip means are provided. And a unique blade carriage or carrier is provided, which carrier contains a simple beam member which is deflectable by a force acting substantially perpen icular to the beam axis, such deflection enabling the blade carrier to be readily moved to various fixed positions along the axis of the knife.

Accordingly, an object or" this invention is to provide a knife with an axially retractable blade that is inexpensive to make, is ruggedly constructed, and not subject to malfunction.

Another object of this invention is to provide a knife in which the blade may be positioned and locked between th fully extended and retracted po ions to provide controlled cutting depth.

A further object of this invention is to provide a knife in which the blade may be unlocked and moved in one operation with facility.

A further obiect is to provide a knife wherein the blade is firmly mounted and supported such that there is no play or rattle of the blade.

Another object isto provide a knife with an axially retractable blade whereby there is no tendency for the edge of the blade to become dulled by virtue of sliding f iction.

Yet a further object is to provide a knife wherein the blade is movable along the axis of the knife by means of a novel blade carrier, which carrier contains a simple beam member which is defiectable by a force acting substantially perpendicular to the beam axis, the deflection of the beam enabling the carrier to be easily moved to various fixed positions along the knife The foregoing and other obiects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art by referring to the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FEGURE l is a perspective View of a knife made cordance with the present invention with the blade of in partially retracted position,

FIGURES 2 ard 2A are elevational views each showing one of the handle/casing halves,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on li e 1 3 of FIGURE 1, and further indicated by lines 3a-3a and 3b-3b of FIGURES 2 and 2A, respectively,

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line of FIGURE 1, and further indicated by lines and of FIGURES 2 and 2A, respectively,

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 1, and to ther indicated by l s and of Fl-G 2 and 2A, re -ly, FIGURE 6 is an elevational View or half of the hanin actheredie/casing similar to FIGURE 2 with a carrier and the blade carried thereby in their forwardmost position and a spare blade supported in the handle/casing portion,

FEGURE 7 is a perspective view of the carrier and a blade carried thereby of FIGURE 6,

FIGURES 8 and 9 are elevational views each showing a modified carrier and a diagrammatic showing of track portions for the carrier.

Referring now to FEGURE 1, a knife made in accordance with the present inventionhas a handle/casing 1% formed by pair of shells 2b and lil connected to one another in face to face relationship by a threaded fastener A carrier is disposed in the handle/casing lb and has an exposed contact button 64 in a recess 16 of the handle ll to be contacted for manually moving the carrier axially. A blade 14 is supported and moved axially by the carrier till, passing through a slot 13 in the front of the handle/casing 19. A slot 12 is provided through the back of handle/casing ill for hanging the novel device when being carried or stored as desired.

Shell has a main wall 21 forming one or" the side wal s of the handle/ casing ill. Wall 21 has a rear flange 22 with an opening 23 forming part of the si t 12. A front flange 24 has a groove 25' which forms part of the slot 23 for passage of the blade 14. A bottom flange 26 extends between the front and rear flanges 2-4- and 22, formed for comfortable gripping, and has upwardly extending spaced ribs 27, 27A, and 27B forming part of a bottom surface of a carrier track. A top flange 32 extends from the front and rear flanges 24 and 22, and has a central recess 33 with front'and rear wall portions 34 and 35. An inner flange 37 extends rearwardly from front flange 24, adjacent the upper flange 32 terminating at wall The inner flange 36 has a recess 3? between walls 3 5 and 35 and depending spaced lug members 39, 39A, 393, 39C and 39D defining spaced indents 3-3, 38A, 33B, A central rib or track member 2% extends a. ally from the front flange 24 terminating in a boss 2% and having an annular boss 36 intermediate its ends encircling an opening 31.

Shell 49 is substantially a mirror view type form of shell as and together with shell 2% form handle/ casing 1%. Shell 49 has a wall 41 forming one of the side walls of the handle/casing iii. A rear flange 42 closing the back of handle/casing lid and has an opening 43 which with opening 2 3 defines slot 12. A front flange 44 defines the front of the handle/ casing ill and has a plurality of rearwardly extending spaced'ribs 44A, 44B, 44C, and 4413. Front flange 44 has a recess or groove 45 which with recess or groove 25 defines slot 7.3 for the blade 14. A bottom flange as extends between front and rear flanges .4 and 42, and with flange 26 forms the bottom surface of handle/casing ltl. extending ribs '47, 47A, and 473 corresponding to and with ribs 27, 27A, and 2713 form a bottom track surface. A top flange 52 extends between the front and rear flanges 44 and 42, and with flange 32' forms the top wall of handle/ casing ll'll. Flange 52 has a recess 53, with front and rear wall 54 and 55, which corresponds to and with recess 33, having front and rear walls 34 and 35, defines recess 16 in handle/casing 10. An inner flange 5s extends between Walls 54 and 55, and corresponds to and with flange 36 forms the bottom of recess 16. Flange 56 has recess 57 which corresponds to and with recess 37 forms a slot in the bottom wall of recess 16. The flange 56 also provides, with flange 36, a top track surface and has a plurality of spaced lugs 59, 59A, 59C, and 49D which correspond to lug 39 39D and forms indents 58, 8A,5B, and 58C corresponding to indents 3b 33C. An annularboss 50 corresponds to b03334 and encircles a flared hole 51 alined with hole 31. A short rib 48 extends forwardly and rearwardly from boss 56. By

Flange 46 has upwardly inserting bolt 11 into flared hole 31 when shells 2d and 49 are in face to face relationship, bolt 11 is threaded into hole 31 to hold the shells together to form the handle/casing 10.

A carriage or carrier 66, as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, is axially movable in the handle/ casing 10. Carrier 66 has an elongated oval body 61 of reislient material, such material desirably being a tough, resilient plastic. The top of body 61 .rides on the top track surface formed by flanges 36 and 56, and the bottom of the body 61 rides on the bottom track surface formed by ribs 27, 27A and 27B and 47, 47A, and 473. A pair of lugs 62 extend from one side of the front and from the rear loops of body 61, each forming a recess to receive central track 28. A contact button 64 is disposed in reces 16 and is connected to the top of body 61 between its ends by a neck portion 65 that extends through the slot in the bottom of recess 16 formed by recesses 37 and 57. A pair of detents 66 extend from both sides of the top of body 61 and seat in indents 38/53, 38A/58A, 3313/5813 and 38C/58C depending on the axial position of carrier 60. As clearly shown in FIGURE 6 by depressing button 64 and urging it axially, detents 66 are moved downwardly out of the indents by the deflection of the resilient body 61 beneath neck 65 and the carrier 60 is free to ride on the provided track surfaces to a new position. The front loop of body 61 has an arm 67 having a rectangular lug 68 which is inserted in a corresponding opening of a blade 14 to provide a connection. A second arm 1% extends rearwardly from the front loop of body 61. This arm 1% is desirably relatively thin as compared to arm 67, and hence is more readily defiectable. A lug 1tl2 at the end of arm 100 is biased by arm 1% against the side of blade 14 to provide support therefor. As illustrated by the dotted line (FIG. 7), the arm 13% may be deflected, so that blades of different widths can be accommodated with the arm 19% still being capable of biasing lug 102 against such blade to provide support therefor and to prevent rattle. Additional blade support is provided by lug 69 which extends laterally from the bottom of body 61 and contacts the bottom of the blade 14. A spare blade 14 may be stored in the back of handle/ casing as shown in FIGURE 6 with boss 29 extending into opening of the blade to prevent its moving.

A modified carrier 70 of C-shape is shown in, FIG- URE 8 and has-a front body portion 71 extending from detents 66 to lug 69 the same as body 61. A tail body portion extends rearwardly from the detents 66 and terminates in a rider '72 that contacts a central track 28A diagrammatically indicated and corresponding to track 28. Tracks 36A and 27C are diagrammatically shown to correspond to similar track surfaces in handle/casing 16.

Another modified carrier 89 is shown in FIGURE 9 and rides in a central modified track 26D formed by spaced parallel ribs 283 and 28C. Carrier 66 has an inverted T-shaped body 81 having a rear lug 82 riding in track. 28D and a front arm 84 corresponding to arm 67 and having a terminal portion 86 corresponding to lug 63. Lug S8 is spaced from lug 82 and also rides in track 281). Of course, track 281), defined by ribs 233 and 28C, extends axially and centrally of the knife, similar to rib 28 shown in FIGURE 6.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of my invention, the carrier 69 (and/ or the alternate carriers '70 and 86) is made of a tough, resilient, high-strength plastic material, e.g., polyoxymethylene thermoplastic resin such as Du Ponts Delrin, polypropylene, polytetrafiuoroethylene such as Teflon, etc. I have found polyoxymethylene plastic such as Delrin to be particularly suitable because of its toughness, strength, resilience, and molding characteristics. Thus, such plastics can be readily injection molded to form a carrier 60 wherein each component, e.g., lugs 62,.contact button 64, neck 65, detents 66, arms 67 and 18-6, and lugs 63, 6% and 162, is formed integral with body 61. This provides a remarkably strong, serviceable carrier 66. Moreover, such a carrier is very inexpensive to fabricate as compared to conventional metal carriers, lasts longer, and is less likely to require repair. Additionally, such plastics exhibit a somewhat waxy feel and are self-lubricating, so that periodic maintenance is not required.

it will be noted that supporting lug 69 (FIGS. 6 and 7) serves as a ledge for the bottom of the blade 14. Such lug being made of plastic, there is no tendency for the blade to become dulled by passage thereover. This would not be true were such supporting lug 6? to be made of metal.

It will be noted that by virtue of the foregoing construction, the blade carrier contains a simple beam member, i.e., a member supported on both ends and deflectable by a force acting substantially perpendicular to the beam axis. Referring to FIGURE 7, the body 61 of the carrier 66 contains a simple beam member 110, i.e., the upper portion of the body 61, such portion being located between and supported by the ends of the loop. Similarly, in FIGURE 8 the simple beam A is supported at the right end thereof in that rider 72 contacts and is supported by central rib 23A, and is supported on the left end thereof by lugs 62 (FIGURE 7) which ride on central rib 28A (FIGURE 8). Finally, the inverted T carrier of FIGURE 9 has a simple beam 11913 the ends, 82, 88 of which ride between and are supported by ribs and 28C.

The simple-beam type carrier is readily deflected in the central portion thereof, e.g., as shown in FIGURE 6, by applying pressure to the button 64, and when so defiected the carrier is readily moved axially of the knife to whatever position desired. Such a carrier affords a number of advantages as compared to the usual cantilever type carriers heretofore employed, e.g., greater strength,

firmer blade support, greater resistance to fati ue failure, etc.

While certain novel features of my invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A retractable knife comprising a housing defining a hollow interior chamber with a passage thereinto from the front of said housing, said chamber having a top and a bottom, a longitudinal slit extending from the top of said housing into said chamber at the top thereof, a blade carriage within said chamber, said carriage being made of a tough resilient plastic and comprising a simple beam of resilient material, a button disposed outside said housing at the top thereof, and means for connecting said button to a central portion of said beam, said carriage being slidable in said housing toward and away from said passage, said connecting means extending through said slit and being movable thcrealong when said carriage slides within said chamber, means for supporting said beam at both end said beam being deflectable between said supporting means in a given plane, a blade detachably secured to said carriage in a plane that is parallel to said given plane of deflection of said beam, and detent means associated with said carriage and said housing for releasably holding said carriage against said sliding movement, said detent means being released when said resilient simple beam is deflected.

2. The retractable knife as defined in claim 1 wherein said plastic is a polyoxymethylene resin.

3. The retractable knife as defined in claim 1 wherein said carriage comprises an elongated oval member.

4. The retractable knife as defined in claim 3 wherein said oval member contains a pair of lugs extending from both sides of the upper portion of said member to provide a de cut for engaging said housing detent means.

5. The retractable knife as defined in claim 4 wherein 5 said oval member further contains an arm extending forward from the front end of said member, said arm having a lug for engaging said blade.

6. The retractable knife as defined in claim 5 wherein said oval member contains a second arm extending rearward from the front end of said member for biasing engagement with said blade to prevent blade rattle.

7. The retractable knife as defined in claim 6 wherein said oval member contains a lug at the bottom portion of said member for supporting the edge of said blade.

8. The retractable knife as defined in claim 1 wherein said carriage comprises an inverted T-shaped member, the ends of the crosspiece of said T being slideably supported by said housing, the crosspiece of said T being defiectable with respect to said ends.

9. The retractable knife as defined in claim 1 wherein said carriage comprises a C-shaped member, the upper half of said C-shaped member being slideably supported at the ends thereof by said housing, that portion of the upper half of said C-shaped member intermediate the ends being defiectable with respect to said ends.

Reierenees Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,674,640 3/37 Christy 3)162 2,215,216 9/49 Gits.

2,737,069 3/56 Weindel 3G--162 X 2,862,296 12/58 Anderson 30-162 2,943,961 8/60 Ortner 30-162 3925 598 3/62 Nissen 30162 3,063,147 11/62 Paparelli 3G-32O X 3,107,426 10/63 Robinson 30162 W ELLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MELTON S. MEHR, Examiner. 

1. A RETRACTABLE KNIFE COMPRISING A HOUSING DEFINING A HOLLOW INTERIOR CHAMBER WITH A PASSAGE THEREINTO FROM THE FRONT OF SAID HOUSING, SAID CHAMBER HAVING A TOP AND A BOTTOM, A LONGITUDINAL SLIT EXTENDING FROM THE TOP OF SAID HOUSING INTO SAID CHAMBER AT THE TOP THEREOF, A BLADE CARRIAGE WITHIN SAID CHAMBER, SAID CARRIAGE BEING MADE OF A TOUGH RESILIENT PLASTIC AND COMPRISING A SIMPLE BEAM OF RESILIENT MATERIAL, A BUTTON DISPOSED OUTSIDE SAID HOUSING AT THE TOP THEREOF, AND MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID BUTTON TO A CENTRAL PORTION OF SAID BEAM, SAID CARRIAGE BEING SLIDABLE IN SAID HOUSING TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID PASSAGE, 